THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION AND HOMOSEXUALITY

Comparing the conflict over homosexuality
with past crises in the Communion

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Concerning the Anglican Communion itself:

The total membership of the worldwide Anglican Communion is approximately 76 million.
Each diocese has considerable power of self-government. Each national
or regional church,
called a "province," has even wider powers. The leader of
each province -- the Primate -- and the bishops meet every ten years at the Lambeth Conference,
usually held in England.
Here, they attempt to reach general agreement on basic matters of faith and social policy. The
next meeting is scheduled for 2008.

Why change within the Anglican Communion is particularly difficult:

As a general rule, large religious institutions have
difficulty changing
their beliefs and practices.
Their beliefs and practices are largely founded on church traditions and the
teachings of a holy text -- the Hebrew Scriptures, Apocrypha, and Christian
Scriptures in this case. Significant change often means that believers must
acknowledge that the church's past traditions are wrong and/or that their holy text
is either wrong or has been misinterpreted for centuries. These are often
gut-wrenching decisions. They can only be arrived at with a lot of pain on the
part of the members, priests, bishops, and primates. Sometimes the strain on the group has been
so great that
schisms have occurred or been threatened.

Change is particularly difficult for the Anglican Communion for many reasons,
including:

Organization: Its structure is basically democratic and largely
decentralized. Change across the Anglican Communion is only implemented after years -- sometimes decades
-- of painful debate. This contrasts with
religious organizations like the Roman Catholic Church,
where the pope can make statements of belief which are binding
on the membership, and the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, which teaches that the prophet receives revelations
directly from God which are also binding on all believers.

Decentralization: Some Anglicans have jokingly referred to a
T-shirt which may or may not have existed in reality. It says: "I am not
the member of an organized church. I'm an Anglican." The spiritual
head of the Anglican Communion is the Archbishop of Canterbury. But he has
little administrative authority over the Communion. Major policy decisions
are left up to the primates and bishops at the Lambeth Conference which meets every decade.
Still, the
Conferences have little direct authority over the provinces. Provinces meet
regularly to discuss policy; decisions generally require the agreement of
three groups: the bishops, priests, and representative from the laity.
Considerable power is also wielded by the bishop, clergy and laity of each
diocese. An individual diocese
or province which is out of step with the rest of the communion can
implement change independently of the rest of the Communion. This can inflame passions elsewhere,
particularly when it involves human sexuality. For example:

In the Anglican Church of Canada, the 1998 decision by Michael Ingham, bishop of New Westminster
diocese
in Vancouver, British Columbia Canada to allow the
blessing of committed same-sex
relationships within his synod. He had previously vetoed repeated requests by a
majority in his synod.

In the The Episcopal Church, USA, Rev. Gene Robinson, a gay
male in a committed relationship, was elected bishop by
the clergy and laity in New Hampshire during 2003-JUN. The Church's General Conventionconfirmed the election in 2003-AUG.

Influence of culture: The 38 Anglican provinces cover the entire
world, including many diverse societies which have very different cultural
traditions concerning gender and sexual orientation. The position of the
various provinces towards the role of women and the nature of homosexual
orientation and behavior depends primarily on the local culture. For example,
in 1974, the "Philadelphia
Eleven" -- eleven female candidates for the priesthood -- were
irregularly ordained in Philadelphia, PA. But it took 24 years before the
General Assembly of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai (the Anglican Church
in Japan) voted to accept female priests; that decision meant that the
majority of provinces accepted women for ordination. There are
still many provinces who continue a sexist attitude by refusing to consider female ordination.

It is impossible to have the entire Communion change in a lock-step fashion.
If past transitions over human slavery and female ordination are any guide,
many decades will pass before the more traditional Anglican provinces will
catch up to where the Episcopal Church, USA and the Anglican Church of
Canada are now on matters of equal rights and treatment of gays and
lesbians.

Broad range of beliefs: The Anglican Communion is proud of its
heritage of offering a "broad tent" to believers. Within the
Communion are such diverse groups as Evangelicals, religious liberals,
Charismatics, Anglo-Catholics, etc. If Anglicans were more homogenous, they
would experience less internal conflict.

If they were as uniformly conservative
as the Southern Baptist Convention, then same-sex behavior would be
almost universally considered an abomination; agitation for equal rights
for sexual minorities would probably be almost nonexistent.

If they were as
liberal as the United Church of Christ or the United Church of
Canada, the questions would have been settled years ago in favor of
equal rights.

Conflict over criteria for truth: The Virginia Report of the
Inter-Anglican Theological and DoctrinalCommission of 1997 noted that Christian beliefs are dynamic. 5 Anglicans must discern "afresh the mind of Christ for the Church in each
generation." They recognize three main criteria for truth:

Their current interpretations of the Bible. Unfortunately, some Anglicans interpret the famous six
"clobber passages" of the Bible as condemning all homosexual
behavior, no matter what the nature of the relationship. Others concentrate on
the Bible's themes of love and justice which they feel support equal rights for,
and acceptance of, sexual minorities;

The historical traditions of the Church. Traditions towards
sexual minorities have been fairly consistently negative.

Human reason. One input to human reason are the findings of
science. Human sexuality researchers only started to study homosexuality
seriously in the 1950s. With
few exceptions, they have determined that
homosexuality is an unchosen, fixed, normal, and natural sexual
orientation for a minority of adults. Homosexuality then becomes a trait,
like left-handedness.

These three criteria can be used to support either a condemnation or
acceptance of homosexuality. The culture in which a person is raised appears to
be the most important factor in determining their conclusions about
homosexuality.

Previous crises in the Anglican Communion:

The 19th century saw a major
crisis within the Anglican Communion over the morality of human slavery. This
was particularly acute in the U.S., Canada and England. The practice had been
supported by many Anglicans and Christians of other denominations for centuries.
It was justified by the common interpretation of the
"Curse of Ham" from the book of Genesis. Additional support came from the
Bible itself -- there are no passages which specifically condemned slavery; there
are many verses that regulated the institution. Unlike the Baptists, Methodists,
and Presbyterians, the Anglican Communion was able to survive the slavery debate without a schism
over slavery.

Other crises during the late 19th and early 20th century were relatively
minor and involved disagreements over whether women had souls, whether married
couples could morally use birth control, etc. However, in the 1960s, the
evolving feminist movement began to have a major impact on the Anglican Communion,
particularly in the west provinces.

There has
historically been a threefold ministry in the church: deacons, priests and
bishops. Some provinces wanted to change the traditional practice of reserving ordination
to the priesthood as a
special privilege for males.

The important stages of this controversy are worth considering, because they
could form a model for the Communion's consideration of the role of homosexuals
in church life:

Prior to 1960: The Anglican Communion and many other Christian
faith groups had always rejected female ordination. No woman, regardless of
her abilities and talents could be considered for ordination.

During the 1960s: There was a growing acceptance in western cultures of the need to give women equal
opportunity as a moral imperative. This was largely driven by secular
groups, very liberal religious groups, and individuals. Debate intensified within the Anglican Communion concerning female ordination as
priests and even their consecration as bishops.

1968 Lambeth Conference: Five resolutions were passed concerning
the ordination of women:

Resolution 34 stated that the theological arguments for and against
female ordination are both inconclusive.

Resolution 35 and 36 asked the provinces and the Anglican
Consultative Council to exchange their findings on female ordination.

Resolution 37 asked any province that was seriously considering female
ordination to first obtain the advice of the Anglican Consultative
Council.

Resolution 38 was initiated by Women in the Anglican Communion.
It recommended that provinces involve women as much as possible in
worship services pending resolution of the female ordination question. 1

1974: Three bishops of the Episcopal Church, USA irregularly
ordained eleven women. Massive outrage surfaced in the Church and throughout
the rest of the Communion.

1975: The Anglican Church of Canada authorized female ordination.

1976: The Episcopal Church, USA passed a resolution
declaring that "no one shall
be denied access" to ordination into the three orders of ministry: as
deacons, priests or bishops, on the basis of their sex.

1978 Lambeth Conference:

Resolution 20 recommended that all provinces open the Diaconate to
women.

Resolution 21 noted that:

Since the previous Lambeth Conference in 1868, the provinces of
Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand and USA had ordained women as
priests.

The debate had "...caused distress and pain to many on both
sides. To heal these and to maintain and strengthen fellowship is a
primary pastoral responsibility of all, and especially of the
bishops."

The Conference recognized "the autonomy of each of its member
Churches, acknowledging the legal right of each Church to make its
own decision about the appropriateness of admitting women to Holy
Orders."

The Conference accepted both those provinces and dioceses which
ordain women and those who don't, and urged that each respect the
convictions of the other side.

"...the holding together of diversity within a unity of faith
and worship is part of the Anglican heritage." 2

Resolution 22 recommended against the
consecration of women as bishops unless "overwhelming support" existed
in the province and diocese concerned and then only after consultation
with the other primates.

1980s: Debate intensified within some provinces over the consecration of female
priests as bishops.

1988 Lambeth Conference: This was a critical time for the
Anglican Communion as there was a strong possibility that one of the
provinces would consecrate a woman as bishop.

Resolution 1 was adopted by a vote of 423 to 28, with 19
abstentions. It begins: "1 That each province respect the decision
and attitudes of other provinces in the ordination or consecration of
women to the episcopate, without such respect necessarily indicating
acceptance of the principles involved, maintaining the highest possible
degree of communion with the provinces which differ." This
resolution recognizes that each province has the authority to decide for itself
whether to consecrate female priests as bishops. 3

Part "c" of the resolution also
recommended that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, appoint a
commission, to monitor those provinces who had decided to ordain women
to make certain that their action does not threaten the unity of the
church. Its formal name was the "Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission on
Communion and Women in the Episcopate" It became generally known as the
Eames Commission because it
was chaired by the Most Rev'd Robin Eames, Archbishop of Armagh of
Ireland.

1989:The fear of the first
female Anglican bishop materialized when the Episcopal Church, USA
consecrated a woman as bishop.

1997: Eames commission report: The
group issued a report which discussed how the Communion wanted to "...uphold
legitimate provincial autonomy while at the same time fostering a care and
consideration for those ...." who opposed female
ordination. They felt that the "...guidelines developed by the Eames
Commission and supported by resolution of the Primates' Meeting have helped
Anglicans maintain the highest degree of communion with those who, with
integrity, hold quite opposite views about the ordination of women."
They estimated that there were "well over 4,000" female
priests, "10 women bishops of which 6 are diocesan bishops."
Australia, Burundi, England, Kenya, Philippines, Scotland, Uganda, Wales,
West Africa, and West Indies accepted women into the Diaconate and
Presbyterate (priesthood). Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, and Southern Africa had
accepted, in principle, women to all three ministries of the church:
as deacons, priests and bishops.. The province of Aotearoa, New Zealand and
Polynesia had joined Canada and the US to actually have women in all three
levels. They reported in England that: "Some groups opposed to women's
ordination continue to feel marginalised. Others believe the Church of
England went too far in accommodating conscientious dissent....The reports
from the Provinces indicate occasional or even more general attitudes of
contempt for opponents on both sides of the continuing debate. Communion in
diversity requires charity and respect." The Province of the
Anglican Church in South East Asia continued its opposition to ordaining
women. They said, "It is wrong to consider the open process of
reception where the principle is wrong and not accepted...there is no
debate where scripture, tradition and common sense are clear."

1998: By this date, a slim majority of the provinces had decided
to ordain women. There was little controversy at the Lambeth Commission
concerning females throughout the threefold ministry. Female ordination had become almost a
non-issue.

By 2006, there still remain many provinces in the
world, and a few dioceses in the U.S., which do not permit the ordination of
female priests. All but three refuse to consecrate women as bishops. The Church
of England only started ordaining women in the early
1990s. They are not expect to allow female bishops
until the 2010s at the earliest. The Communion will probably not reach full agreement for
decades into the future. It may well take generations -- conceivable even a century -- before sexism
is totally abolished in the Anglican Communion, and women are allowed to fully
serve the church at all levels.

Current status of "the issue:"

As of early 2005,
gays and lesbians may be ordained throughout most of the the Anglican Communion, but
they normally have to agree to remain celibate. The
Anglican communion does not generally recognize or bless gay and lesbian union
ceremonies. Exceptions exist in some dioceses in the U.S. and
Canada.

Among many Anglican leaders, stability and homogeneity of belief and practice is
of primary importance. Other leaders see justice in the form of equal rights for
all persons, including those of sexual minorities, as paramount. There are no good solutions
to the conflict.

Equal rights for gays and lesbians was the main topic of conflict at the 1998
Lambeth Conference. A serious division surfaced among the various Provinces,
with many Western churches taking a more liberal view. The Archbishop of
Canterbury created a commission to study the matter. Their Windsor Report was
issued in late 2004. The Primates split the Anglican Communion in 2005-FEB by
asking the U.S. and Canadian provinces to withdraw from the
Anglican Consultative Council .